1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to egg contents removers, and in particular, egg contents removers adapted for home use which do not break the eggshell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Eggs are used around the world as an important food item, and in many areas are almost a daily part of the family diet. The egg is a beautiful example of compact individual packaging by nature. The egg contents are nutritious and are prepared for the table in many ways. While the eggs of many species of birds or reptiles are used by man as a food, the eggs of the chicken (hen's eggs) constitute the major type of egg consumption. Approximately seventy billion eggs are produced in the United States per year.
Eggshells can be drilled or pierced with a hole or holes and the fluid or semi-fluid contents; i.e., the egg whites and egg yolks, can be blown out or sucked out and the contents saved for use as food. Empty egg shells thus prepared may be used as ornaments or may be decorated for use in religious festivals or for ceremonial or hobby purposes. Indeed, the egg is a symbol of fertility and of the coming of life in many cultures throughout the world, and the empty egg shell is used by many such cultures, particularly at Easter and Christmas.
Eggshells of various bird and reptile species are also of great importance to ornitholigists, serious bird watchers, and herpetologists. To such people the collecting of eggshells from various species requires the egg contents to be laboriously removed by sucking or blowing (as discussed later) if the eggshells are to be preserved.
Furthermore, emptied eggshells have many applications in the arts and crafts, as is evidenced by the many craft books and magazines available today. The small holes left in the egg shell are easily sealed so as to be nearly invisible, and when so sealed, the egg shell will float in water and many other fluids. In addition, the emptied eggshell can be strengthened if desired by injecting a suitable coating material, such as plaster or plastic resin solution, and then shaking and rotating the egg. It may also be coated on the outside. Indeed, the craft uses for emptied eggshells have increased to the point where imitation eggshells are made from plastic derived from petrochemicals. Such use of petrochemicals is, of course, an additional cost in both money and energy. Thus, the emptied eggshell, if more generally available for home use, would be both desirable and economical.
Nevertheless, until the present invention, the process of manually drilling out a hole and extracting the egg white and egg yolk by blowing or sucking has been a slow, laborious and messy task. These early methods have required that the eggshell first be drilled with a small hole of approximately 1/8th inch in diameter and a larger discharge hole of about 1/4 inch in diameter drilled at the other end of the egg. The usual machine drills available to the average person are not well suited to drilling eggs since, even when operated gently, they often break the eggshell. Such drilling usually requires holding the egg in one hand and drilling with the other, which also presents a safety hazard. Furthermore, the manual blowing of the egg by mouth or by a straw inserted in the small drilled hole and blown by the user, introduces a sanitary problem, since the egg contents may easily be contaminated by the saliva of the user. This contamination is especially dangerous since the egg contents form a perfect culture for many types of microorganisms.
Besides being laborious, the previous methods of extracting egg contents have also been undesirable since the size of the air inlet hole is critical. If the air inlet hole is too small, the blowing out process is very slow, and if the air inlet hole is too large, then a vigorous user may actually cause the egg to break. Due to these many difficulties in home blowing of eggs, it is rarely done except on special occasions and, even then, in relatively few homes.
It is to this problem that the present invention is directed. The present invention is a non-destructing eggshell egg contents remover which incorporates an egg receiving assembly comprising a resilient hollow egg cup receptacle, an egg contents discharge tube passing through the egg receiving assembly and protrudable into an egg within the egg cup receptacle, an air inlet tube protrudable into an egg, and means such as a bellows or rubber bulb for forcing air into the air inlet tube; thereby displacing the egg contents with air and removing these egg contents through the discharge tube.
Although a number of prior art devices deal with eggs, and more particularly, with egg contents removing, none of these prior art devices disclose or suggest a non-destructing eggshell egg contents remover incorporating a resilient egg cup receptacle, an egg-contents discharge tube, an air inlet tube protrudable into the egg, and a source of compressed air for forcing air into the egg via the air inlet tube.
More particularly, although U.S. Pat. No. 2,446,310, Gaylord, discloses an egg opener with pneumatic shelling means where air is forced into the egg via cone 16 in combination with pump 13 and cylinder 11, this patent does not disclose or suggest an egg content discharge tube cooperating with the air inlet tube for receipt of the egg contents without destroying the eggshell. Gaylord removes the egg contents, which are previously hard boiled, by means of cutter assembly 18 that slices off one end of the egg for removal of the contents when air is inserted at the other end of the egg. No discharge tube is used or contemplated by Gaylord since the device disclosed is adapted for removing boiled egg contents.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,409, Webb et al. discloses an egg filling process and resulting product wherein an egg has its contents removed followed by spraying a solution of gum arabic and ethyl alcohol into the emptied egg. The egg is then dried and filled with chocolate or some other confectionary. In the removing process, the egg sits on a suction cup 11 having a passage 15. The egg has two holes drilled through the shell at 2 and 3 and is placed on passage 15, thereafter having its contents removed by suction pump 10. Thus, this device does not have or suggest an air inlet tube for forcing air into an egg so as to remove its contents with compressed air pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,055, Woebbeking, discloses a hand operated egg blower for removing a hard boiled egg from its shell. Two holes are made in the egg and an air bellows placed around the egg. The air pressure then forces the hard boiled egg through the bottom hole. Woebbeking does not disclose or suggest an egg contents remover for uncooked eggs nor does it disclose an egg contents discharge tube and air inlet tube for obtaining the removal of the egg contents.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,224,931, Weimer and 3,249,137, Conrad, disclose machines for perforating eggs. Weimer discloses a device having a pin passing through a seat to which the egg is placed, while Conrad discloses a device for making two holes in each of a number of eggs placed within the machine by use of long pins which are quickly inserted and removed from the eggs. The Weimer device is adapted for perforating an egg in order to vent air when the egg is boiled. The Conrad device is used in conjunction with a second machine which removes the egg contents after their double perforation by the Conrad machine. Thus, these devices neither disclose nor suggest a non-destructing eggshell egg contents remover where one or two holes are placed in the egg for forcing air into the egg and removing the contents through an egg contents discharge tube.
Other prior art egg devices are directed to commercial machines for removing the contents of many eggs in a highly automated fashion. Four patents in this category are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,445,490, Meade, 2,446,812, Cribb et al, 2,594,619, Gosch et al., and 3,055,407, Conrad. All of these devices use some form of piercing technique to make holes in the egg with the egg contents subsequently transferred to a chamber or tray by means of suction or forced air. None of these devices utilize a first tube for receiving the contents of the egg and the second tube for forcing compressed air into the egg for removal of the contents via the first tube.
Thus, Meade punches holes in the top and bottom of the egg and subsequently sucks out the contents at the bottom of a container; the container being evacuated by suction pipes 14. In Cribb et al, a group of hollow needles 10 are provided with suction by communication with a vacuum chamber 1. Eggs are automatically dropped onto the hollow needles, thereby cracking the eggs and removing their contents. In Bosch et al, the machine first cracks the bottom portion of the eggs followed by piercing them at their bottoms and tops and then forcing the contents of the eggs into a receiving tray by means of compressed air. Again, the machine is adapted for mass production and is fully automated. Finally, Conrad pierces two holes in a plurality of eggs, with the smaller holes made at the top, and the eggs subsequently turned over for removal of ther contents by an evacuator.
Other prior art patents are related to various sophisticated production machines which do not disclose or suggest the present manually operated non-destructing eggshell egg contents remover. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,188 Hodson, discloses a complicated production machine not designed for home use that does not puncture or drill eggs but actually grinds them around their circumference and then cuts through the membrane within the egg by a separate conveyorized belt of knives so that the egg contents can be dropped into cups on a conveyor for inspection.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,786, Noltes, discloses a production machine for opening and separating the yolks of eggs from the whites. The machine is conveyorized and complicated and operates by slicing off the bottoms of the eggs and piercing a hole in their tops. The device does not provide for an air inlet tube or an egg contents discharge tube as disclosed in the present invention, nor is provision made to save the shell in an unbroken state. The egg separating feature of the present invention is used in conjunction with egg contents remover and therefore is not anticipated or suggested by Noltes.
Other patents relating to eggs which are believed to be of lesser relevance than the above-cited prior art patents are listed in Table I below:
Table I __________________________________________________________________________ U.S. Pat. Issue No. Inventor Date Title Brief Description __________________________________________________________________________ 205,313 Stemple 1878 Improvement of States that preserved Process of Treat- eggs from solutions ing Preserved cannot be boiled with- Eggs out cracking. Pierces small hole in butt end, but hole should not pass through cuticle envelope of egg. 498,488 Power 1893 Process of Ex- Centrifuge method. tracting the Contents of Eggs 963,407 Uhlier 1910 Piston Device Piston device and spear and Spear for for hard boilded eggs. Hard Boiled Eggs 968,910 Woodrow 1910 Egg Separator 1,163,873 Thornburgh 1915 Process of Heat Treatment Treating Eggs 1,184,499 Wilhermsdorfer 1916 Cigar Cutter 1,316,315 Mars 1919 Implement for Opener for hard boiled Use in Removing eggs Contents of Eggs 1,491,908 Greig 1924 Device for A hard boiled egg Cutting Off or holder and piercer Facilitating the having a serrated inner Removal of the ring. The egg may be Tops of Egg twisted to cut the shell. Shells 1,496,312 Harkin 1924 Method of Mass production of Separating mixed white and yoke Egg Values or separated slits. does not pierce eggs; no shell recovery. 1,618,682 Snapp 1927 Egg Sheller Breaks shells from hard boiled eggs. 1,635,843 Hoffman 1927 Method of Introduces antiseptic Preserving Eggs through hole made in egg, then seals hole with paraffin or other material. 1,837,357 Chapman 1931 Egg Handling Production unit, shells Apparatus are cut with a saw. 1,945,788 Pilley 1934 Egg Breaking Very complicated, mass Machine production breaking of eggs. 1,945,860 Loffler 1934 Method of Vacuum cleaner for whites Recovery of left inside surface of Egg Whites broken egg shells. 2,032,939 Kammeyer 1936 Device for Open- Another hard boiled egg ing Eggs device. External cutter turned with key. 2,075,270 Cleveland 1937 Egg Breaking Slices egg to make hole & Separating production method. Apparatus & Process 2,161,910 Callahan 1939 Article of Food Wire holder one inserts in egg perhaps prior to boiling. Can be used to slit shell of boiled egg. Is for individual use. 2,206,960 Irish 1940 Process & Mass production. - Apparatus for Breaks eggs in half. Breaking Eggs & Salvaging Liquid Egg Material 2,550,189 Droege 1951 Bulk Egg Centrifuge Method. Breaking & Separating Method 2,669,518 Torr 1954 Method of Colloidal dispersion of Treating egg shell & contents. Whole Egg Information relating to shell strength. 2,673,160 Feeney 1954 Method of Flame sterilization of Preserving shell exterior - In- Shell Eggs formation relating to egg spoilage. 2,898,961 Kauffman 1959 Egg Breaker Production machine & Shell Ex- presser 3,106,234 Conrad 1963 Egg Evacuating Means 3,203,458 Shelton 1965 Egg Opening & Mass production. Separating Method 3,207,198 Beeson, Jr. 1965 Method & Production technique Apparatus for using sonic beam to Breaking & crack egg. Separating Eggs 3,307,600 Fuge 1967 Method & A side operating Apparatus for guillotine device to Decapping Eggs cut top off egg. 3,448,782 Williams 1969 Egg Handling Machine 3,764,714 Driggs 1973 Cooking & Information relating Peeling the pH level of egg contents Hard Boiled to strength of egg. Eggs __________________________________________________________________________
None of the above prior art patents either solely or in combination with each other disclose or suggest the novelty of the present invention; namely, a manually operated non-destructing eggshell egg contents remover for discharging the contents of an egg while leaving intact the eggshell. The operation of the present invention, incorporating an egg contents discharge tube passing through an egg receiving assembly holding the egg and a second air inlet tube protruding into the egg, the air inlet tube having air supplied to it by means of a hand-operated bellows or similar device is not shown or suggested by any of these prior art patents.